1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to haystack feeding and moving apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus capable of allowing selective placement of large compacted haystacks within a stock feeding area for subsequent self-feeding by the animals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Principally because of high labor costs, modern day cattle feeding operations have necessarily become more mechanized. Recent developments in hay production are rapidly eliminating use of wire or string bound hay bales, especially in large scale operations. Instead of the small tied-bales, large, tightly compacted yet unbound haystacks are used. One or two operators equipped with specialized equipment are able to grow, harvest, compact, move, store, and retrieve large quantities of hay. Because of this ongoing change in production techniques, significant handling problems have been encountered, particularly with respect to transportation and feeding of large feeder haystacks. Moreover, attempts at utilizing prior art tied-bale handling techniques for these large compacted haystacks have proven undesirable, if not unsuccessful.
It should be understood that large haystacks are pre-formed by specialized stack-forming machinery. Any of the currently fed ruminant loose feed materials such as clover hay, corn stover, alfalfa, quack grass, fescue, and timothy can be compressed into large haystacks. These large haystacks can weigh as much as three tons or as little as one and one quarter tons, the latter having length, width, and height dimensions of approximately eight, seven, and eight feet respectively, or approximately 2.4; 2.1; and 2.4 meters. By way of information, prior art apparatus typifying such stackforming devices are illustrated in the following United States patents:
3,556,327 3,698,767 3,732,672 3,779,158 3,813,861
Because of the tremendous size and weight of compacted haystacks, very specialized and expensive machinery is required to move the haystacks from the storage lot or hayfield to the desired feeding location. Moving devices now on the market are of limited utility, i.e., they are only useful to transport a stack. Three known examples of such moving devices, all typically pulled by a drawing implement, include a wheeled flat bed device having mechanized longitudinal chain apparatus for conveyor-like pick-up and removal of a haystack; a wheeled lift fork device for the lifting and moving of smaller pre-formed haystacks, and sometimes having top-of-stack stabilizing means; and a wheeled stack retriever having a variable height loading bed. None of these devices provide self-feeding of the stacks, they simply move the stack.
Once the stacks are moved to the desired location, feeding becomes a problem. Although cattle feeders are able to use free-choice stack feeding, i.e., allowing the cattle to feed themselves from unenclosed, large haystacks, this method has proven extremely wasteful of stacked feed materials. Albeit free-choice feeding is the least expensive haystack feeding method, trampling wastes of such free-choice haystack feeding may amount to as much as fifty per cent. This is because cattle are able to walk on top of the unprotected haystack in their attempt to feed upon it, thereby trampling large amounts of the feed material. Because of this trampling waste problem concerning free-choice feeding, additional specialized apparatus is required after moving the stack to effect controlled self-feeding.
Generally, a self-feeding apparatus can be described as a device which allows livestock, such as cattle, to feed on and entirely consume a haystack, yet prohibits trampling waste. One example of a known self-feeding device is a series of portable feeder panels individually placed around a haystack and then secured with pins. Cattle are able to extend their head and necks through vertical bars or stanchions on each panel, thereby allowing the cattle to eat from the stack yet not walk on top of it. Other examples include electric fences, pole racks or fences, cable fences, sled-like rigid metal enclosures, and wheeled hayricks. Some of these devices are permanently affixed around the haystack. Others have to be manually decreased in size as a haystack is consumed. Still other devices rely on the cattle to forcibly collapse the self-feeder's walls inwardly around the dwindling haystack, thereby providing self-regulation of feeder size. While some of these devices have to be positioned in pieces around a large haystack and then assembled, others require the stack to be torn apart and the stack segments separately placed in the self-feeder. Each known teaching for providing an enclosure around the feed material requires additional labor not needed with utilization of the present invention. Moreover, the last described method effectively destroys the best single advantage of compacted haystack feeding, i.e., one single compacted mass of hay weighing, for example, one and one quarter tons is available for once-a-week feeding of a herd of cattle of approximately thirty head, compared to the currently used practice of once-a-day feeding of approximately ten tied bales for a similar size herd. Feeding devices typifying some of the foregoing are illustrated in the following United States patents:
2,686,494
2,729,196
2,768,607
Because of the above-described moving and feeding problems, it can readily be seen that a preferred practice of handling large haystacks for a herd of cattle would be to eliminate the two step moving and feeding operations or, alternatively, obviate the necessity of dividing a large haystack after it has been neatly and desirably compacted, and selectively depositing it in several small feeding pens. Such preferred practice may be accomplished according to this invention by an apparatus capable of moving a large haystack from the storage area to the desired feeding location and then retaining the stack within the same apparatus while cattle self-feed until the stack is, for all practical purposes, completely devoured. This eliminates trampling wastes and reduces overall costs.